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(Warning: there's a monster at the end of this post.)

Warner Bros. is continuing to get mileage out of its Sesame Street license, announcing a new fitness-themed game for Wii and DS. Sesame Street: Ready, Set, Grover! is a set of exercises designed by Grover himself, "to help his Sesame Street friends get up and go!" Kids will be able to row, jump, and play "Grover Says" along with Elmo and Abby.

The Wii version comes with a Grover version of the Sesame Street Wiimote covers introduced last year, which covers all unnecessary buttons. And the DS version includes a "jumbo click stylus." The games are designed to be playable by toddlers on their own, but they also include a "Parent's Page" so parents can see what the little ones did. The Griptonite-developed games will be out this summer.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>dsgriptonite-gamesnintendoq3-2011release-datesesame-streetsesame-street-ready-set-groversummer-2011warner-bros-interactivewiiThu, 05 May 2011 03:00:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/25/sesame-street-once-upon-a-monster-preview/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/25/sesame-street-once-upon-a-monster-preview/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/25/sesame-street-once-upon-a-monster-preview/#comments
"One of the things that I'm personally really passionate about -- the reason I'm in this industry -- is that I want to see our medium be more than it is already," Double Fine's Nathan Martz, and project lead on Once Upon a Monster, confided in me at a Microsoft press event yesterday. "Our human experience is so broad and yet our industry deals with such a narrow slice of it."

Martz explained that the project was conceived with the express purpose of generating joy. "I wanted to explore emotions," Martz said of his goal going into development. "For me, the best one is joy. The early example of this is a girl I was dating at the time. She asked me if I had a 'happy' song, a song that you hear and it just makes you feel great. Everybody has a happy song, and that was originally the name of this project: 'Happy Song.'"

I'll admit it: Playing a bit of Once Upon a Monster was a happy experience, one I think would be even more so for families and kids a little younger than myself.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>double-finekinectmicrosoftmicrosoft-february-showcase-2011Nathan-MartzSesame-Streetsesame-street-once-upon-a-monsterWarner-Bros-Interactive-EntertainmentWBIExboxFri, 25 Feb 2011 14:40:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/15/sesame-street-once-upon-a-monster/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/15/sesame-street-once-upon-a-monster/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/15/sesame-street-once-upon-a-monster/#commentsSesame Street: Once Upon a Monster will be brought to you this autumn by the letters D, F and K. Warner Bros. Interactive announced this morning that the children's television institution will be transformed into an "interactive experience" for Xbox 360's Kinect. The game will be developed by Double Fine Productions, the studio that's recently taken a new path with bite-sized downloadable titles like Costume Quest and Stacking.

Accompanied by Cookie Monster, Elmo and other fluffy residents of Sesame Street, you'll explore a "living storybook" (entitled Once Upon a Monster). Parents and children can get active in this journey through a set of minigames that encourage "dancing, jumping, flying and more."

From this initial announcement, it appears the game will be like an interactive Sesame Street episode. If Double Fine nails it, it holds serious potential for the studio that's only come close to having a break-out hit. Of course, if the series does take off (and remember, there's flying!) how is mom supposed to enjoy a quiet moment in the kitchen and a bottle of wine if she actually has to play along? Whatever happened to the good old days of television as babysitter?

Warner Bros. Interactive has announced two new games (Two games! Ah, ah!) based on the evergreen Sesame Street franchise. Sesame Street: Elmo's A-to-Zoo Adventure and Sesame Street: Cookie's Counting Carnival will help preschoolers learn the alphabet and math this fall on the Wii, DS and PC.

The Wii and DS games will use what WB is calling "gameplay helpers." On the Wii, that means fuzzy Cookie Monster or Elmo slipcovers that cover up unused buttons on the Wiimote. For the DS version, it's a big, clicking stylus for small, uncoordinated hands. Parents and kids alike would do well to resist the urge to jam cookies into the Cookie Monster Wiimote.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>dsEducationnintendopcSesame-StreetSesame-Street-Cookies-Counting-CarnivalSesame-Street-Elmos-A-to-Zoo-AdventureWarner-Bros-InteractivewiiTue, 08 Jun 2010 00:30:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2010/01/13/new-sesame-street-games-on-the-way-saysa-warner-bros/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/01/13/new-sesame-street-games-on-the-way-saysa-warner-bros/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/01/13/new-sesame-street-games-on-the-way-saysa-warner-bros/#comments
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has inked crayoned a deal with Sesame Workshop to produce a new series of games based on the beloved edutainment property, Sesame Street. According to an AP report, the partnership is designed to capitalize on a "big open hole in the market," which is easily filled with children and their open-minded parents.

"This is the first generation of parents who grew up as gamers," said WBIE senior vice president of marketing, Russel Arons. "Unlike prior generations where people weren't sure of the value of video games, these are people who know there's value and fun for the whole family."

Warner Bros. has yet to announce specifics -- like target platforms or release dates -- but has allegedly expressed interest in the motion controllers set to arrive on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 later this year (presumably, the desire to work on Nintendo's Wii goes without saying). Terry Fitzpatrick, Sesame Workshop's executive vice president of distribution, believes that the casual-friendly input "makes it very easy and is developmentally appropriate for preschoolers, as opposed to dealing with a very complex controller."

With Microsoft's Project Natal eliminating the controller entirely, we're sure to see some wonderful numeracy games involving Cookie Monster shoveling as many baked treats into his face as possible. We do that in front of the TV every day, so we may as well get points for it.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>casualeducationaledutainmentsesame-streetsesame-workshopwarner-broswarner-bros-interactive-entertainmentWed, 13 Jan 2010 22:00:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2009/07/06/sesame-street-gives-gaming-the-thumbs-up/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/07/06/sesame-street-gives-gaming-the-thumbs-up/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/07/06/sesame-street-gives-gaming-the-thumbs-up/#commentsThanks to the recent shift in video games towards introducing more movement in control, our favorite pastime has just gotten the thumbs up from the Joan Ganz Clooney Center at Sesame Workshop, which wrote, "Well-designed digital games show significant potential to promote children's growth and healthy development. They can foster skills and knowledge that help children with academic learning, as well as habits which contribute to better health."

We're happy that The House That Big Bird Built approves. In turn, we'd like to remind everyone that reading is totally horse apples and completely F.P.O. (that's "For Poindexters Only"). So there.